


The Little Man

by Sophia_Bee



Category: X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Cute, Erik has Feelings, Erik is a Father, Erik is not a Happy Bunny, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 08:10:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2574368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Bee/pseuds/Sophia_Bee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles wants a baby. Erik doesn't like babies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Little Man

**Author's Note:**

> one-shot, Erik POV

Charles wants a baby.

Erik figures this out from the hints Charles drops. He might say subtle hints, but they tend to be far for subtle.

There are the emails with links to baby outfits that Charles sends him. And the parenting articles that follow. There are the random babies that Charles sweeps into his arms at the park then shows to Erik, his face glowing, speaking some sort of strange baby language to both him and the poor baby, and saying something like, ‘isn’t she CUTE?”. And the baby toys he brings home because they were on sale, a really good deal, and 'you never know, darling, we might need them someday.'

Erik hurumphs.

The biggest hint comes one night when they are sittings at the worn farm table that dominates the mansion kitchen eating a late night snack and Charles looks at Erik in a very serious manner and says carefully, as if he's been practicing it,

"I'm serious, Erik, I want a baby."

It’s not really a hint.

Erik's resolve is quite weak when it comes to Charles. It's entirely possible that if Charles wanted the sun to rise in the west in order to give his orchid collection more light, Erik would rearrange the magnetic poles of the earth to try to make it happen. So when Charles stops hinting and finally asks directly, Erik says yes. Charles can have a baby.

Erik doesn't like babies. They are strange, wrinkled, squalling creatures who have powers to enchant the most curmudgeonly person, so the best defense against The Babies, as Erik has come to think of them, lumping them all into one group, is to not have them around. Although it seems he has now agreed to have a baby in his life, once he capitulates to Charles on this subject Erik spends his time trying to pretend that maybe there actually will be no baby, despite the many warning signs.

He helps Charles turn one of her many rooms in the mansion into some sort of baby room, complete with a baby cage. He calls the contraption this and Charles throws something at him in response,

"Crib, darling, most people call it a crib. Not a baby cage."

Erik notes that the baby cage is constructed of wood and silently apologizes to all future occupants that he will not be able to use his powers to help them gain their freedom. Charles looks over at Erik with narrowed eyes.

"CRIB, Erik Lehnsherr. You will not need to emancipate our child from some sort of bondage. It's a crib for a baby to SLEEP in."

"Stay out of my head," Erik growls for about the fourth time that day.

He helps Charles install some sort of contraption in one if the cars. It resembles a bucket or a purse. A baby purse. A very bulky baby purse. Wouldn't it be better to carry the baby around in something smaller, like one of those soft sided dog carriers he's seen some of the ladies at the park with? He tells Charles this.

"Good god Erik, we are NOT putting our baby in a dog carrier," Charles sighs, "have you NEVER seen a infant car seat???”

Erik blinks. No. He doesn't like babies. Why would he care how they travel?

He continues to pretend that there will be no baby. He even suggests that Sean might be baby enough for them, although he clearly can't use the car seat, and Erik would never break the sonofabitch out of baby jail.

"CRIB," Charles says across the chessboard in the study as he contemplates where he should chase Erik's king next.

"Out of my head, Charles." Erik says absently, staring at the chessboard.

"Checkmate" Charles grins.

He pretends there will be no baby until one day Charles leaves the mansion for a few hours in the car with the car seat contraption, and when he returns he is holding...A BABY. A wrinkly little baby. What the fuck?

Erik stares at the bitty thing in Charles' arms and Charles doesn't look back but looks down at the infant in his arms and he fucking COOS. Erik does not coo. He sizes up his rival. Small, pink, big blue eyes. Tiny little fingers. A bit of ginger hair. Not nearly as good looking as him.

“What is that?” Erik says, staring at the baby.

“THAT is our son, Erik. Magnus Francis Xavier.”

Erik blinks. The baby’s name is his middle name? He melts a little, then growls because he does NOT like babies. This baby will not win, even if he’s named after him.

“Where did you get a baby?”

“Erik! Do you listen to anything I say to you? I told you last week, I got a call from M.A.P.”

M.A.P. the Mutant Adoption Project. It’s a non-profit that helps mutants who want to give up their babies for adoption and want to make sure they’re placed into mutant families. Erik thinks he remembers Charles mentioning something like this, but he’d been occupied by trying to figure out the twists and turns of the new Shonda Rhimes show.

“Oh,” Erik says, “I might not have been paying much attention.”

“Do you ever listen to ANYTHING I say?”

“Well,” Erik frowns, “I definitely listen when you say something like, ‘Oh, Erik, fuck me harder.’”

Charles’ eyes grow wide and he covers the baby’s ears with a blanket.

“Not in front of Mags, Erik!”

Mags. Really?

Erik tries to maintain his frown but Charles is no longer paying attention. He has returned to cooing over the baby, who has started fussing a little, and Erik hears him say something akin to, ‘Papa’s here.’ Erik glares at the baby and thinks that maybe Magnus’ powers are manifesting early because he has clearly cast a spell over his husband.

Babies drool.

Erik learns this when Charles hands him Magnus a few mornings later and Magnus proceeds to let a long, thin strand of drool land on Erik’s hand. He looks at the glob of secretions then looks at the baby, who is again trying to use his power of charm and is smiling. SMILING. Oh, thinks Erik, the game is on, little one. The game is ON.

“Perhaps we should rename him Vermin,” Erik says smoothly, glancing over at Charles. “he appears to have the same drooling problem as that horrible mutant by that name that we fought in New Jersey last month. The one who drooled and spit acid.”

“His name is Magnus,” Charles sighs, taking the baby back from Erik, who has been holding him arms length the entire time as Magnus continued to drool those long strands. He appears to be a quite drippy baby. “Come here, Mags, my little man,”

It appears that Charles is still doing that cooing thing. Magnus will not be renamed Vermin. Erik has lost this round. He glares at the baby and Charles hugs Magnus to his chest and tells him to ignore daddy. Daddy can be a bit of a grump.

Daddy.

“If daddy is such a grump,” Erik says, sardonically, “why was little Mags smiling at me?”

Charles whips around and stares at Erik.

“He smiled at you? Really? Oh my god, that was his first smile. And I MISSED IT,” Charles holds Magnus out who gazes at him with those giant spellbinding baby eyes that could make a person do whatever the baby chooses, but Magnus does nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, he drools, but that’s nothing new. “Come on, smile for papa. Come on, Mags. Smile!”

Charles spends the rest of the evening trying to coax another smile out of Magnus. Erik thinks he sees Magnus wink. It appears that Magnus might be #teamdaddy.

Charles telepathy comes in handy when it comes to Magnus. He and Erik will be doing the dishes and making dinner and Charles will stop, his eyes somewhere else, then he’ll tell Erik that he has to go because Magnus is waking up, or about to start crying. This happens at the most inopportune times, and Erik finds that he’s left with more dishes than he wants to do, that he burns the homemade macaroni and cheese that is Charles’ specialty and one time Charles is about to blow him when he freezes.

“Magnus.” Charles says just before he’s about to take Erik’s erect and leaking cock into his delectable mouth. He jumps up from the bed and dashes out of the room, “I’m so sorry, darling. The baby.”

“Oh, FUCK,” Erik groans. “Jesus fucking christ, seriously, fuckity FUCK!”

Seeing no other option, Erik grabs some lube, slicks his hand and jerks himself off. Coitus interruptus. Round two goes to Magnus. This is starting to look like a battle Erik might not win.

Erik doesn’t like babies, but Magnus isn’t really that bad. He smiles at Erik’s jokes, not matter how bad they are. Charles says to not be flattered. He’s a baby and smiles at everything, sounding a little annoyed. He’s soft and snuggly and sometimes falls asleep on Erik’s shoulder, his little body heavy with sleep, making funny little sounds.

One night, a few months after Charles had walked into the mansion with the little bundle of baby that Erik never thought would actually happen, after they’ve suffered through more sleep deprivation than Stryker could ever dream of submitting them to, Erik and Charles are slumbering in their bed, hoping that maybe little Mags will let them get more than two or three hours of sleep before he wakes again. Suddenly Charles blinks awake and groans, then his hand reaches out and he hits Erik.

“You go get him,” Charles groans, “I’m sooooo tired.”

“Get who?” Erik slurs, sleep still clinging to him.

“Magnus. He’s going to cry.”

Then, as if he’s privy to the conversation, a wail crackles over the baby monitor on the side table.

“You go,” Erik mumbles, not wanting to get out of the warm, comfortable bed. “You’re the one who wanted a baby in the first place.”

Erik expects Charles to snap at him, to tell him to fuck off, but he’s met with a sleepy ‘mmmpffffhhhh’ and Charles rolls onto his side, having fallen right back to sleep. Magnus continues to wail over the baby monitor. Erik huffs a little, considers giving Charles a good shake to fully wake him up, but then decides that Charles has been working so hard, taking care of Magnus, training with the kids in the school, and he deserves a little more sleep.

Rolling out of bed, Erik grabs his dressing gown and throws it on. He pads to the door of their room, then into the hallway and towards Magnus’ room, which is across from theirs and one door down. He opens the door and Magnus is lying in the crib, his crying almost worked up to squalling at this point. When the light from the hallway floods in the room, he stops, clearly startled, then lets out a little hiccup and starts to cry again, although this time it’s softer. Erik stands in the doorway, looking at the baby stuck behind the bars of the baby cage.

“Poor little man,” Erik mutters to himself. He walks over to the edge of the crib and looks down, at the red-faced wee boy then he places a hand on his chest and pats him clumsily. “There, there.”

Charles is so good at this. He’s a natural. Maybe it’s his telepathy. Maybe it’s instinct, but Erik only manages to feel awkward as he pats the tiny body that’s shaking from sobs. Is this what he’s supposed to do? Magnus blinks up at him and takes in a deep, shaking breathe.

Erik melts.

In one quick motion he scoops up the baby and brings him to his chest. He’s not going to leave Magnus in the crib, sleeping by himself. He’s going to bring him to bed with him, keep his little body close to him. Magnus quiets at Erik’s touch, still hiccuping and he snuggles into Erik’s shoulder, and Erik feels his heart swell.

“There, there, little man,” Eriks whispers as he carries Magnus back to their bedroom. “Daddy’s here.”

~fin~


End file.
